[governance] Civil Society participation, my opinion

[Jeremy Malcolm]

On 18/11/2009, at 11:38 AM, Ginger Paque wrote:

> Even when a serious error is made, our reaction has to be  
> appropriate to the venue. I think that a proper statement of  
> protest, with a request for inquiry following UN protocol would have  
> gotten a more serious and favorable result than a manipulative Web  
> 2.0 reaction. If we want to be considered international policy  
> stakeholders, we have to be solid, professional and credible.

A contrary viewpoint.  Civil society did not invade the UN's sandbox,  
it invaded ours.  We are not the newcomers to Internet governance;  
indeed, we are the indigenous inhabitants of and governors of  
cyberspace.  Whilst we have acknowledged the need for multi- 
stakeholderism and indeed championed this concept, remember that the  
IGC originally opposed a United Nations home for the IGF, recognising  
the clash of cultures that would result.

You will say that, in any case, the United Nations is the venue in  
which we now find ourselves.  But then you go on to criticise civil  
society's response to the censorship of speech not within the walls  
Congress Centre in Sharm, but in cyberspace, to which UN rules of  
procedure do not extend.  Thus if our response ruffles governmental  
feathers, it is they rather than we who should adapt.

If we are to adapt to the rules of the United Nations whilst at the  
annual meetings, by self-censoring our references to particular  
countries or companies, and by accepting that procedurally neutral  
policies will be applied selectively at the whim of delegates from  
repressive regimes to produce substantively unjust results, then so  
must the UN accept that we will express ourselves online free of those  
same restraints.

-- 
JEREMY MALCOLM
Project Coordinator
CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL-KL OFFICE
for Asia Pacific and the Middle East	

Lot 5-1 Wisma WIM
7 Jalan Abang Haji Openg
TTDI, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3 7726 1599
Mob: +60 12 282 5895
Fax: +60 3 7726 8599
www.consumersinternational.org

Consumers International (CI) is the only independent global  
campaigning voice for consumers. With over 220 member organisations in  
115 countries, we are building a powerful international consumer  
movement to help protect and empower consumers everywhere. For more  
information, visit www.consumersinternational.org.

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